


Sunny Side Up

by Debate



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Pre-Season/Series 04, The Team - Freeform, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 03:37:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11843199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Debate/pseuds/Debate
Summary: It's a quiet morning when Mack reveals to Fitz that Daisy's absence is impacting him in a unique and painful way. Contemplations about love and breakfast ensue.





	Sunny Side Up

Fitz was sorting through the cereal in the Playground’s kitchen, trying to see if there were any Lucky Charms left, when Mack came stumbling into the room. 

“Hey, Mack,” he greeted and Mack acknowledged him with a tired but pleasant smile as he rubbed at his eyes. Fitz used the back of his hand to test if the coffee pot was still hot, and, finding it satisfactorily warm, poured Mack a mug. He drank half of it, black, in one gulp, which seemed to wake him up enough for human conversation. 

“So did you just get back then?” Fitz asked, abandoning his search and settling for Rice Krispies. “No sign of her?” 

“Dead end, and we just got back from debriefing with the director,” Mack sighed, a type of exhaustion present that was entirely separate from the physical kind. “He’s calling off the search for Daisy, and you can imagine how thrilled Coulson was about that, so we spent the better part of an hour and a half trying to dissuade him, to no avail. And I’m jet lagged.” 

Mack was expecting Fitz to show more of a response about the Director ending the search, but instead he looked down at his cereal, brows furrowed as if he was waiting for some divine answer to spring out of the swirling milk. Silence filled the kitchen, and for a moment the only sound was the trademark  _ snap, crackle  _ of the breakfast food. 

Fitz picked up his spoon again and shoveled a bite into his mouth, barely chewing before he swallowed. 

“I guess that makes sense,” Fitz finally said, “it’s been nearly six months.” 

Mack could only look on in shock as Fitz continued to eat his breakfast, seemingly unaffected by the news except for the slight downcast to his eyes. Fitz being blase about the whole thing rocked Mack in his shoes. Fitz was nothing if not pigheadedly loyal to his friends, his giving up on Daisy was contrary to everything Mack knew about his character. 

Coulson clearly had no ambitions about sincerely ending the hunt for Daisy, and neither had Mack. She was his partner, everything without her felt smaller, less colorful, harder to bear; they needed her to come home. He and Coulson knew that SHIELD would be fighting against it but he had assumed they could count on Fitzsimmons and May regardless. 

“So you’re giving up on her?” Mack asked, anger and accusation leaking into his words. Fitz’s head snapped up. 

“It’s the other way around,” he said defensively, “She left! And she clearly doesn’t want to come back, so maybe we should let her go!”

Suddenly, Mack was seething from the implication that Daisy didn’t love and care about them. And at Fitz, who could suddenly think that SHIELD was at all the same without her, that any of the team was the same without her, that they didn’t  _ need  _ her.

“Yeah, ‘cause that’s what you said when Simmons left.”

It’s a low blow, and wrong, and not at all what he meant, and he wanted to take it back almost immediately, but he can’t so he waited for Fitz to bristle with anger. 

But Fitz didn’t do that, instead he pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled.

“That was different and you know it,” Fitz said with more patience than Mack expected or deserved. And it  _ was _ different, Simmons left because she believed doing so would help Fitz; Daisy leaving didn’t make anyone better, it didn’t help anything. It had him worse. 

“Some things about it are the same,” Mack admitted, to himself as much as to Fitz. 

Fitz scrunched his eyebrows for a moment before realization seemed to dawn and he used his spoon to point at Mack almost in disbelief. 

“You’re not...wait....Mack, are you in love with Daisy?” He finally asked, equal parts surprised and confused. Mack couldn’t quite make himself answer in the affirmative, but the absence of a reply was enough for Fitz.

Fitz sank as far back as the wooden chair would allow him, looking at Mack as if seeing him in a new light.

“It’s why you didn’t want to go out with Yo-Yo…” he muttered, “Why you’ve been so beaten out of shape about her leaving.”

And Mack couldn’t deny any of that, even though he wanted to, because his feelings for Daisy were inappropriate. He was her partner, his feelings would betray her trust, even if she hadn’t been grieving. 

They sat in silence as Fitz’s cereal got mushy and the rest of Mack’s coffee got cold. Mack waited for Fitz to say something, anything, to chew him out, or hum in disappointment, or utter other words of confusion and disbelief.

“Are you gonna say anything?” Mack finally caved. 

“What?” Fitz groused, “You want  _ me  _ to give you romantic advice?”

“Oh no, don’t do that,” Mack agreed while Fitz nodded along, and the simple comment seemed to decrease the tension in the room. 

“You know I want nothing more than for Daisy to come home, right?” Fitz asked softly, so as to not disappoint the room’s gentle air. And Mack nodded. Fitz had been heartbroken when Daisy had disappeared, and would have likely gone into a panic if it weren’t for the post-it she had left on the fridge, filled with her flimsy explanations and the implication that she wasn’t to be followed.

“You know, the whole loving something and letting it go stuff,” Fitz continued. And Mack smiled at him as he rinsed out his cup. 

“‘Cause you’re great at that,” Mack said with a significantly raised eyebrow. Fitz shrugged. 

“Well you and Hunter convinced me to move on from Simmons, so I’m pretty sure what we have to do is drink beer together, swear we selflessly wish her the best in all her independent endeavours, and then a few days later Bobbi will magically show up with her in tow.” 

Mack laughed along with Fitz, even as his heart clenched in his chest. 

“I think she’ll come back, Mack. When she realizes that we want to help her.” 

Fitz’s faith was different from his own. He clung to the laws of the universe and the scientific method in their strange, mystic, and alien world. And always recalled with disdain the way his mother used to comb back his hair for mass. But in the ways that really mattered they had faith in the same things. In trust and loyalty. In the belief that there were things in the world worth protecting. Mack appreciated that.

“For what it's worth I think you two would be good together,” Fitz said. It was nice to know that Fitz meant that honestly, he wouldn't have said it otherwise. 

“I don't think it's in the cards Turbo, but thanks.” 

Fitz took another bite of cereal and Mack slipped two slices of bread into the toaster. 

A couple minutes later Simmons slipped into the kitchen, hair perfectly coiffed and a stack of files in hand. Fitz handed her the cup of tea he had prepared and she kissed the top of his head gratefully. 

She sat down next to him and began to flip through the baby blue folders while rubbing her forehead. The extra work she had taken on was obviously taking its toll. 

Coulson and May came in together a minute later. May looked as collected as she usually did but Coulson’s face told a story enough for the both of them. Three weeks of fruitless searching and the tense meeting had left him exhausted, and it was clear on his face. The lines in his forehead that had once been powerful and determined when he was calling the shots now served to convey his age and mounting heartbreak. 

May went about making her oatmeal and Coulson poured himself a mug of coffee and grimaced when he took a sip. 

“This is not Maxwell House,” he said, looking at the coffee pot like it had personally betrayed him. 

“Yeah they started getting Folgers,” Fitz commented, spoon still in his mouth. 

Coulson shook his head but took another sip anyway. 

“Too many things are changing around here,” he said over the lip of his cup.

They all nodded in agreement and even though Mack tried, but he couldn’t help but think about Daisy.

About how she would mock Fitz with Simmons about the gross amount of sugar in his tea, but religiously put three spoonfuls in her own mug. About the boxes of Pop Tarts she had stashed in her bunk that she was positive she had managed to fly under May’s radar so she could eat something with no nutritional value. About the day she had given Coulson decaf just to see if he’d notice and discovered him asleep at his desk half an hour later.

About the post-mission egg mcmuffins she’d make for him. And the near hour they had spent researching what the hell black and white puddings were in their attempt to make Simmons a full english breakfast. About the times they’d just lean against the kitchen counter and talk.

“It won’t be like this forever,” Mack said, catching Fitz’s eye and giving an appreciative nod. “We’ll all have a nice proper breakfast together sometime soon, I’m sure.” 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Is it weird that I can see Daisy and Mack in love but can't see them in a relationship? I don't even really ship these two but I love their relationship, and I think the end of season four just got to me so I wrote this. I'd love to hear what you think!


End file.
